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Enjoying a comfortable life once you hit retirement age is an aspiration for many of us. One of the ways you can plan for this is to start saving for a pension.
There are real benefits to starting the process early - and earlier than you might imagine. Starting saving for retirement gives your savings the best opportunity to grow - hopefully resulting in enough savings for the retirement you planned. You'll need to keep an eye on things though - paying in regular contributions, perhaps increasing them from time to time, and checking regularly that you're still on track.
Pensions are a long-term investment where the value can go down as well as up - which means you could get back less than you invested. We'd expect to see some fluctuation over the lifetime of a pension, perhaps due to things like stock market changes or worldwide events, such as the Covid pandemic. Historically, these fluctuations have evened out over the longer term - although there's no guarantee.
Saving for a pension can be daunting when you're a millennial (those born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s) perhaps because retirement can seem to be such a long way away.
Building your retirement savings should ideally be done over several decades. So, starting a pension early could allow you to save enough money to cover both your day-to-day costs and to let you keep doing the things you love when you’re older.
Why might I need a pension?
The maximum amount you could receive when you retire from the State Pension probably won’t be enough to cover your needs. It’s currently just £203.85 per week –equivalent to £10,600.20 per year[i] - that might be a lot less than your current salary.
Having another pension plan in place – whether that’s a personal pension or a workplace pension – is one of the best ways to save enough money for a comfortable retirement. But, starting this process early is important. The longer you have your money invested, and the amount you pay in, all affect how comfortable you'll be in retirement.
It's also worth thinking about when, and how, you'd like to access your pension. Under current rules, when you reach age 55, you'll be able to access your pension savings - even if you’re still working. This will increase to age 57 in April 2028. For some, this could pose a risk.
When do you start saving for a pension?
Ideally, you should start saving for a pension as soon as you start working. If you're over 22 years old, in full-time employment, and earning more than £10,000, you'll be enrolled in a workplace pension where your employer will also make contributions to your pension pot.
Those who are self-employed will need to start saving into their own personal pension. This allows you to decide how much you want to contribute each month and to increase/decrease this whenever you like.
How much will my pension be worth?
Let's be honest - the value of your pension by the time you hit 30 won’t be huge. That’s because, at best, you'll have only been paying into it since you were 18 years old. And it’s likely your contributions won’t have been very high either.
But how much your pension's worth throughout your career will depend on several things, from the age you initially started paying into it, to what you choose to contribute each month. It can also depend on the choices you make about where your funds are invested.
There are different investment options available that you can match to your your personal attitude to risk. Each option is set up to encourage your money grow, but with a different level of risk attached. As we've said before, the value of investments can go down as well as up. So, as well as encouraging your money to grow more, the more risky options could also see greater losses.
You might also want to make sure your pension is responsibly invested. We believe that investing is about more than generating financial returns. We are committed to helping build financial resilience while also acting and investing responsibly in the interests of our members, customers and society at large.
The value of pensions advice
If you're unsure about your pension savings, it's always a good idea to speak to a financial adviser. They’ll be able to help you with your pension planning and show you how to get the most out of your pension savings.
While you might not see the benefits of financial advice right now, it could really pay off in the future and help you to maximise your pension savings and any other financial assets.
Saving for a pension isn’t the only way to safeguard money for the future. Why not read our personal finance blog to discover all the different ways you can financially prepare yourself for later life?
